Abstract
This study describes early immunological mechanisms that underlie resistance to Teladorsagia circumcincta infection in adult Churra sheep. After a first experimental infection, 6 animals were classified as resistant (RG) and 6 as susceptible (SG) to T. circumcincta infection based on their cumulative faecal egg count (cFEC) at the end of the infection. RG showed higher IgA levels against somatic antigen of T. circumcincta fourth-larvae stage (L4) in serum at day 3 post-infection (pi) (p < 0.05) and close to significance at day 21 pi (p = 0.06). Moreover, a strong negative correlation between cFEC and specific IgA was only significant in RG at day 3 pi (r = − 0.870; p < 0.05), but absent in SG. At the end of this infection, sheep were treated with moxidectin and infected again 3 weeks later to be slaughtered at day 7 pi. At necropsy, the specific IgA levels in gastric mucosa were similar between groups; the absence differences at day 7 pi could be due to a previous increase in the IgA response, probably around day 3 pi, as described during the first infection. L4 burden, 68% lower in RG than in SG, was influenced by the specific IgA in gastric mucus and the number of γδ T cells. RG group showed a positive correlation between γδ T cells and eosinophils (r = 0.900; p = 0.037); however, this correlation was not found in SG. These results show that these two phenotypes show different early immune response pattern to T. circumcincta infection in Churra sheep.
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Data will be available on https://www.re3data.org/ after manuscript acceptance.
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Acknowledgements
WC1 antibody (clone 19.19) was generously ceded by Dr. David Piedrafita (Federation University, Australia).
Funding
Financial support for this project was received from the LE248U14 project of Junta de Castilla and León Government. VCGA is funded by Junta de Castilla y León and FSE (LE082-18), EVG by FPU grant (FPU17/00627) from Spanish Ministry of Education, BGG by the “Ramón y Cajal” Programme (RYC-2012-10230) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO), MMV by the “Ramón y Cajal” Programme (RYC-2015-18368) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) and JNH by Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información del Gobierno de Canarias y Fondo Social Europeo (ProID2017010109).
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Conceptualization, BGG, JJA, MMV; methodology, VCG, JFG, JNH, EVG, MMV; drafting the manuscript VCG, FRV, MMV; reviewer the manuscript all authors; validation FRV, JJA, BGG; resources, MMV; funding acquisition BGG; experimental design, BGG, JJA, MMV. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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This study was carried out according to the National Spanish legislation on the protection of animals used in experimentation (Royal Decree 53/2013), after the approval of the competent body, Junta de Castilla y León.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Section Editor: Abdul Jabbar
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Castilla-Gómez de Agüero, V., González, J.F., Hernández, J.N. et al. Differences within Churra breed sheep in the early immune response to the infection by Teladorsagia circumcincta. Parasitol Res 120, 1115–1120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06953-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06953-4